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Trucker jailed for deadly motorway gamble

Played Facebook poker on laptop

A lorry driver who killed a man on the M25 by crashing into his car while using a laptop has been jailed for five years.

Stephen Cook, 42, from mid-Glamorgan, was playing a poker app on Facebook when he hit Peter Kendall's Astra in September last year. The 39-year-old died of head injuries in hospital two days later.

Cook was sentenced yesterday to five years' imprisonment for dangerous driving, and a further two months after pleading guilty to six counts of possessing indecent images of children.

His lorry slammed into the back of Kendall's car, which was stationary in slip road traffic, at more than 40 miles per hour.

Wood Green Crown Court heard Cook had been using his laptop on the passenger seat and failed to react to warning signs. Subsequent police examination of the laptop revealed the indecent images.

The Met's DI Simon Sharp said: "The utterly irresponsible actions of Stephen Cook led to dreadful consequences. Our thoughts are with Mr Kendall's family and we hope that the outcome of the trial has gone some way to alleviating their sense of loss." ®